With St. John’s Church in the background, people walk under a new street sign on Friday, June 5, 2020, in Washington. “The section of 16th Street in front of the White House is now officially ‘Black Lives Matter Plaza,'” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser tweeted. The black and white sign was put up to mark the change. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
After the words “Black Lives Matter” were painted in bright yellow on part of 16th Street Northwest near the White House, the area was unofficially renamed Black Lives Matter Plaza over the summer.
On Tuesday afternoon, the D.C. Council voted unanimously to make the name official and permanent.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser announced the creation of the plaza in June amid widespread protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody.
The area is still closed to traffic. Restaurants on 16th Street, and some cross streets, are starting to reopen.
